The question continues…”I’d like to not have to wash my hair every day and have heard it can make that happen. What do you think?”
Great question.
I personally feel not enough of us know all the ways this amazing dry powdery product can be used or aren’t familiar with the many benefits.
Also nowhere near enough of us use this Godsend of a styling aid.
Of course any heavy users reading this might want to check out the article we wrote about the scary side of dry shampoo. Does it damage your hair and how worried you have to be about that? Good to answers to common questions asked.
But opinions aside, sounds like you’ve heard how dry shampoo can give you another day between washings perhaps and wonder if it’s for you.
To be totally honest, dry shampooing will never replace lathering up with a great cleansing shampoo formulated for your hair type. For real. Yet many can reliably stave off having to break out the shampoo without leaving the house with a grease ball for hair.
So if greasy, matted down hair isn’t your thing, but you’re worried about washing too often, then please keep reading. Because…
- Yes, this wonder product can stretch the time between washings. Which is all the more important if you’re into things like pastel hair colors or have dip dyed your hair with koolaid or food coloring.
- Yes, it can revive, reinvigorate and resuscitate even hair that has turned into an virtual oil slick – otherwise known as a beauty nightmare if you are trying to wash it less. Restoring volume and a sense of light airiness in the process to fine hair that can often go flat.
- Yes, as you’ll see in a bit, besides breathing new life into yesterday’s hair, there are many other useful things this secret weapon can do for you.
So we’ll take a quick look at four ways to apply it, six reasons why you should love it, the differences between spray and powder, and clear up some traditional advice for use that’s wrong.
Skipping A Shampoo? No Worries
Many styling pros feel this product is the perfect antidote for a rather wide spread hair care misconception. You see, the belief that squeaky clean hair is the daily goal is patently false. Because while not exactly common knowledge, it’s still true that over-washing is one of the top hair care mistakes too many make.
Again this is “overdoing it” is done because it’s thought hair cleanliness is next to hair goddess-ness and that’s bogus. All you are really doing with all that lathering up too often is removing the very same natural oils needed to keep your hair healthy. Not to mention what all those cleansing agents can do to hasten the fade out of your color. Or how overuse of even gentle formula shampoos can create dry, frazzled ends.
Yet there’s another point to remember about the oil your scalp produces. Eliminate it all by washing daily and before you know it your scalp goes into hyper drive to make up for the loss. That means it is a somewhat self-defeating behavior to wash your hair daily to combat its natural oiliness.
Fact is most find that over time by NOT shampooing daily their hair adjusts. It turns off the oil machine. Plus it’s often the case you then need to use less dry shampoo on days you don’t lather up and your scalp is still less oily overall.
Besides not washing your hair daily is not really as disgusting as it might seem even if you are not a fan of grease and grime. This is a dirty little secret Kandee Johnson explains so wonderfully in this video.
How can you not embrace dry cleansing technique after watching that?
Application Techniques
Okay but maybe you’re not exactly sure how to go about this. And yes, it does seem at times there are as many ways to do this as there are dry shampoos. But let’s see if we can share a few of the more promising approaches for you to try. Just don’t expect these to be wildly different. They aren’t. I mean how many ways can you apply this stuff anyway?
That said here goes.
Approach #1: Apply wherever you see the most greasiness. While many suggest just applying on your part, both powder and spray on can be spritzed more liberally on the trouble spots with great success. You want to get this absorbent material where it’s needed. Then flip your hair upside down and gently ruffle the worst areas with your fingertips. After straightening up and flipping your hair back again, give your roots a quick blast with the blow dryer. What this does is continues to blow the power about all about your strands. Finally clear out any excess powder by brushing thoroughly throughout your hair and you’re good to go – refreshed hair and all.
Tip: When applying spray on don’t get right up on your hair. It is usually best to spray 8-10 inches from your hair. Let the dust settle for 60 seconds. Then comb through much like the directions on the can probably suggest.
Approach #2: A slight variation is to lift sections of your hair and apply the spray or powder though out the roots. Then repeat until you’ve covered all parts of your head. You don’t want to rush things either. In other words don’t be in any kind of hurry. Give the product time to work. A few minutes is fine before you tousle and rake your hair with your fingers to spread things around. Remember it takes time to absorb the grease and oil. Then like before brush in any that has not dispersed. Working at this until you can’t tell you used dry shampoo.
Tip: Less is more when it comes to this stuff. Besides you can always add more. But once you’ve overdone it, well, there’s no putting it back in the can. Best I can suggest is you might take a damp towel to your hair to see if that won’t remedy the situation.
Approach #3: Start near the crown and part your hair. Lightly spray some in at the root level. You want this to go on evenly not like a huge hot shot that leaves a white glob all in one spot. Rub it in. Then part your hair an inch and a half to two inches lower. Give this section another shot. Work that in. Make another part back up around the crown. Repeat all around your head.
Tip: Carefully read and follow the instructions on the can or box. You will likely be told to shake the can HARD. Make sure you do.
Approach #4: Here’s another approach I saw described online. Apply the hair cleansing powder into the hair around your crown. You can either section and apply or part to get down into the hair around the roots. Massage in. Brush your hair back into a high ponytail to lift the roots up and off your head somewhat. Spritz the product on one more time and leave things alone for like 7 to 10 minutes. When you release your ponytail you’ll find fresh hair that is grease free.
Dry Shampoo…How Do I Love You? Let Me Count The Ways
Sure this can sop up excess oil and preserve great blowout on days you can’t or don’t feel like washing your hair. But that’s just for starters. Here are six other uses you may not have thought about.
1. Body Armor
For one it can be used as a root lifter to give fine, delicate hair some badly needed oomph.
2. Time Saver
Another benefit is how much time it can save you. Especially if you have longer or thicker hair. Think how long it takes to wash, dry and style your mane. If you can skip directly to the styling part of your morning beauty routine, wouldn’t that be nice? Spritz, brush and style sounds a whole lot faster than wash, dry and style, doesn’t it? Which to me like makes this both a convenient and function solution.
It can also be a real life saver if you oversleep or for whatever reason don’t have time to wash, dry and style your hair. But you can guess that doesn’t mean you simply spray it on haphazardly hoping to end up with a good looking, reinvigorated mane. No, it’s better to take a couple of minutes to do it right because the results can be just short of amazing.
3. Proven Color Extender
Then too it can be a color extender? How so? Well, we all know colored hair can benefit from not being washed as often. Especially if you’ve opted for any shade of red. As a redhead you are likely learning what colorists already know. It’s not the easiest of colors to maintain. Put another way shampoo can just be murder on red, auburn or crimson anything. So the best tip anyone can give you in this case is to wash less and dry shampoo more.
4. Fine Hair Salvation
Now it’s no surprise a menace of fine straight hair is the impossible-not-to notice greasies. You can take out these highly visible problem areas and spray in some instant volume by hitting your roots with a spritz of your favorite dry cleanser. Gently work it in with your fingers. Then brush out. This is why this miracle product has been compared to caffeine for limp, tired hair. It’s a quick, easy and surprisingly affordable beauty fix that can rescue your hair from itself. Or you if you tend to overdo shampooing.
5. Wake Up Sexy
This may not be a way to use this that comes to mind right away because it’s not necessarily obvious. But if this works in the morning for you then you might see what sleeping with dry shampoo in your hair all night long does for things in the morning. Some report that it not only saves them prep time but it leaves them with loads of unexpected body and fullness when they wake up. This works because the product has a change to fully absorb oil all night long. Leaving you in the morning with hair that is clean and fresh looking. It also saves you time because you don’t have to work your dry shampoo routine while rushing around getting ready for work or school.
6. Get Beautiful Second Day Hair That’s Great for Styling
Finally stylists are quick to point out some styles work better with second day hair. Think stylish updos for one. Or use it as a styling aid with freshly washed. It can help give clean hair a bit more grip to help bobby pins, barrettes, and clips hold the hair in place. Styles stick better when there is a bit of grit to work with.
It’s no secret those who work out a lot, were granted a lifetime subscription to Oily Hair Girls, or who lead a non-stop, constantly-on-the-go lifestyle often lean on a quick ponytail as their go to style between washings. But say you don’t feel like a ponytail today? Now what? The answer would be to reach for the dry shampoo which is fast becoming the savior of those who don’t or can’t wash their hair.
Granted after using this miracle worker your mane may not feel like just washed hair. But it won’t be that far away from the looking like that if you are using the right product for your hair.
Spray vs Powder
Dry shampoo comes in two basic flavors – sprays and powders. Each type offers their own drawbacks and advantages.
Aerosol sprays are super simple to use. Fast too. Just aim and shoot. But this can result in too much product landing on one spot. Some are more powdery than others. Others may tend to clump up which isn’t what you want. (You want fine particles since they are more easily invisibly worked into your strands.) Then there is the issue of overspray that can cover everything in your bathroom making for one fine mess. Also the nozzle can get clogged or the compressed air can be depleted long before you’ve got all the product out, wasting money.
Powder comes in loose form. You can apply this directly or what may work better is to get it on a brush and work that through your hair. Naturally this takes a little longer. But less is likely to go to waste so powder may be more cost effective than sprays.
Either way this can be scented or unscented and no matter how strong or not the fragrance is some find that objectionable. Others want a bit of refreshing scent to help mask any suggestion of dirty hair.
Also most powders are white which may or may not work for you depending on your hair color. Nothing worse than dull, gray looking hair at the root level of raven hair. But with some dry shampoos the actual product like disappears when you work it in and brush it out. With other you are better able to color match to the shade of your hair helping them to blend in better.
Dial Up the Dry Shampoo 411
What is the best way to use it? Here’s the 411 about that along with answers to other questions you may have.
Rumor Has It to apply this powdery life saver liberally.
I say it’s always a good idea to limit styling products due to the risk of product build up weighing down your hair. And that it’s all the more important if you want to make using this a regular part of your beauty routine.
I will also point out that some find the new love affair with this quick fix results in s a flaky scalp. What happens is any leftover residue causes a buildup of dead skin cells and oil. This can inflame your scalp and result in the flakiness.
Rumor Has It that much like baby powder many dry shampoos are talc based. This may explain why some leave your hair smelling like baby. Scent aside, the finish they leave your strands with after soaking up excessive grease from your scalp and the roots creates the illusion of clean, volumized hair.
I say to see if you can’t find a product with a fragrance you can live with. With a product that leaves you with hair that smells like you just washed it even. Even though it will become less noticeable over time usually, the scent should be considered.
Rumor Has It you only need apply this quick fix in a can where your roots are visible.
I say you also want to focus on like your bangs, especially if your bangs get greasy, the hair around the crown of your head and perhaps the sides some. Areas like the hair at the nape of your neck? Not so much.
Oh and if things are still a bit shiny due to grease backcomb the roots a little to camouflage things a bit further.
Let’s face it, when your hair looks good, everything about you looks good. This instant hair-refresher is just another way to make that happen. It also lets you cut down on styling time and can make your hair look almost as good as it did the day before.
Leave a Reply